Enemy Submarines Research Articles

Simulation study on firing parameters optimization of parallel salvo of active acoustic homing torpedo

In the process of submarine anti-submarine warfare, single acoustic homing torpedo or parallel salvo acoustic homing torpedo to attack enemy submarine is usually used. According to the search sector of torpedo and the method of submarine avoiding torpedo maneuver, the model for submarine running out of search zone is established. Therefore, the necessity of using parallel salvo in anti-submarine warfare is verified. On this basis, the calculation model of firing parameters is established, and the simulation results show that the Optimization of firing parameters has great influence on the hit probability of parallel salvo. The research results have certain reference value for implementation.

Will AI Steal Submarines' Stealth?: Better Detection will make the Oceans Transparent—and Perhaps Undermine Nuclear Deterrence

Submarines are valued primarily for their ability to hide. The assurance that submarines would likely survive the first missile strike in a nuclear war and thus be able to respond by launching missiles in a second strike is key to the strategy of deterrence known as mutually assured destruction. Any new technology that might render the oceans effectively transparent, making it trivial to spot lurking submarines, could thus undermine the peace of the world. For nearly a century, naval engineers have striven to develop ever-faster, ever-quieter submarines. But they have worked just as hard at advancing a wide array of radar, sonar, and other technologies designed to detect, target, and eliminate enemy submarines. The balance seemed to turn with the emergence of nuclear-powered submarines in the early 1960s. In a 2015 study for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment, Bryan Clark, a naval specialist now at the Hudson Institute, noted that the ability of these boats to remain submerged for long periods of time made them “nearly impossible to find with radar and active sonar.” But even these stealthy submarines produce subtle, very-low-frequency noises that can be picked up from far away by networks of acoustic hydrophone arrays mounted to the seafloor. And now the game of submarine hide-and-seek may be approaching the point at which submarines can no longer elude detection and simply disappear.

Context-Aware Decision Support for Anti-Submarine Warfare Mission Planning Within a Dynamic Environment

Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions are the linchpin of maritime operations involving effective allocation and path planning of scarce assets to search for, detect, classify, track, and prosecute hostile submarines within a dynamic and uncertain mission environment. Motivated by the need to assist ASW commanders to make better decisions within an evolving mission context, we investigate a moving target search problem with multiple searchers and develop a context-driven decision support tool for the ASW mission planning problem. Given the spatial probability distribution of a target submarine, sensor detection probability surfaces from meteorological and oceanographic products, and the risk to the fleet as a function of distance of the target from the fleet, we model and formulate the ASW asset allocation and search path planning problem using a hidden Markov modeling framework. We propose a two phase approach to solve this NP-hard problem. In phase I, we partition the geographic area, satisfying contiguity constraints, into search regions using an evolutionary algorithm (EA) coupled with a Voronoi tessellation approach, and allocate the assets to partitioned search areas using the auction algorithm. In phase II, we construct a dynamic search plan for each asset over the search interval using EA. We evaluate our approach via a hypothetical ASW scenario to monitor an enemy submarine in a geographic region via multiple assets. We compare our results to various search path planning strategies that, using the context-driven decision support tool developed here, revise the search regions at periodic intervals given a fixed total search time.

Signal Processing: Data analysis, machine learning, and imaging sources

Whether it is locating an enemy submarine, finding that annoying sound generated inside an airplane, optimizing the focusing of sound to destroy kidney stones, or learning how bats track their food, advanced signal processing is key to the success of these research topics. The Technical Committee on Signal Processing in Acoustics was formed to foster interdisciplinary interaction among the Technical Committees. Techniques used to track a submarine in the ocean, should also work to track a swarm of bees flying through the air or to track the delivery of medicine to a targeted place in the body. For example, at the previous ASA meeting a signal processing session on machine learning brought together researchers using machine learning to identify earthquakes from the global smartphone seismic network, to determine whether noise is further endangering a certain species of birds, and to map out the ocean floor. This presentation will highlight some of the exciting techniques being used in signal processing and in the process give an appreciation for the breadth of the applications of the techniques being developed.

Investigation on optimal path for submarine search by an unmanned underwater vehicle

Unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) is one of the significant equipment for underwater anti-submarine warfare. In this paper, the optimal anti-submarine search path of a UUV is investigated through maximizing the cumulative detection probability (CDP). The mathematical programming model for optimal UUV search path is established by utilizing an adaptive mutation genetic algorithm (AMGA). The enemy submarine is described as a Markovian target. The search radius and search width of the UUV are considered. In simulation analysis, an approximately logarithmic spiral path is found. Moreover, the influence of different parameters, such as detection distance, different initial distance, different detection velocity, and different escape velocity, on the CDP is revealed. The results indicate that the optimal UUV search path is effective and suggestive for anti-submarine operation.

Optimal deployment for anti-submarine operations with time-dependent strategies

In this paper, we consider the optimal deployment of multiple assets in anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations with time-dependent strategies. We model this as a zero-sum game that takes place over a finite time horizon. An agent, representing multiple assets, in an ASW operation, decides on the allocation of these assets (e.g., one or more frigates and helicopters) to prevent an intruder, an enemy submarine, from attacking a moving high-value unit (HVU), e.g., a tanker ship. Hereby, the agent aims to prevent an intruder, an enemy submarine, from attacking a moving HVU, e.g., a tanker ship. The intruder is deciding on a route that minimizes the detection probability given the agent’s strategy. We first consider a game model where a part of the agent’s strategy, namely the complete strategy of a frigate, is known to the intruder; and second, we consider a sequential game approach where the exact location of the frigate becomes known to the intruder at the start of each time interval. For both approaches, we construct (integer) linear programs, give complexity results, and use an algorithmic approach to determine optimal strategies. Finally, we explore the added value of this approach in comparison to a traditional ASW simulation model.

An Improved Underwater Confrontation Simulation Method of Naval Amphibious Operational Training System

This paper described an improved underwater confrontation simulation method of naval amphibious operational training system. The initial position of submarine forces on the enemy is generated automatically, and the attacking distance model of torpedoes is established based on the kinematics theory, which is more flexible and reasonable to judge the launch condition compared to traditional method. The two kinds of confrontation behavior models on the enemy submarine are created to depict its tactical action from the defensive to the offensive as well as the contrary, ensuring that operational style is simulated more comprehensively and properly. The existing motion trajectory estimation and collision detection algorithms on operational platforms are also improved to reduce the iteration error and further enhance the detection accuracy of target hit.

Extended Abstract: Utilizing Event Rate As a Manipulation of Task Difficulty in Vigilance

Vigilance refers to the ability of an observer to maintain attention over extended periods of time, and to respond to critical signals that occur (Davies & Parasuraman, 1982). Vigilance has been ex...

Sonar technology and underwater warfare from World War I to the launch of USS Nautilus in 1954, the first nuclear submarine

Sonar research began in the First World War to curb the U-boat menace. Radical methods had to be devised both organizationally and technically to combat this new form of warfare. Civilian scientists were drafted into naval research. A new field of science was created: underwater acoustics for passive listening, and ultrasonic echo-ranging for active detection of submarines. If the war had lasted only a few more months, prototype Asidic equipment (the Royal Navy’s name for sonar) would have gone operational. During the interwar years the American and Royal Navies developed their sonar “searchlight” systems, while before 1935 the German Navy concentrated on sophisticated passive listening arrays (incorporating American WWI research) to protect their capital ships from enemy submarines. Searchlight sonar technology evolved sharply in WWII. The nuclear submarine in 1954 required a complete rethink of the sonar scanning techniques developed over the previous 40 years. This lecture is based on full access to naval documents and interviews with scientists involved in this work in Britain and the USA for my book Seek and Strike (HMSO, 1984).

Underwater Sonar Signals Recognition by Incremental Data Stream Mining with Conflict Analysis

Sonar signals recognition is an important task in detecting the presence of some significant objects under the sea. In military, sonar signals are used in lieu of visuals to navigate underwater and/or locate enemy submarines in proximity. In particular, classification algorithm in data mining has been applied in sonar signal recognition for recognizing the type of surfaces from which the sonar waves are bounced. Classification algorithms in traditional data mining approach offer fair accuracy by training a classification model with the full dataset, in batches. It is well known that sonar signals are continuous and they are collected as data streams. Although the earlier classification algorithms are effective in traditional batch training, it may not be practical for incremental classifier learning. Since sonar signal data streams can amount to infinity, the data preprocessing time must be kept to a minimum to fulfill the need for high speed. This paper presents an alternative data mining strategy suitable for the progressive purging of noisy data via fast conflict analysis from the data stream without the need to learn from the whole dataset at one time. Simulation experiments are conducted and superior results are observed in supporting the efficacy of the methodology.

Sword, Shield and Buoys: A History of the NATO Sub-Committee on Oceanographic Research, 1959-19731

In the late 1950s the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) made a major effort to fund collaborative research between its member states. One of the first initiatives following the establishment of the alliance's Science Committee was the creation of a sub-group devoted to marine science: the Sub-committee on Oceanographic Research.This paper explores the history of this organization, charts its trajectory over the 13 years of its existence, and considers its activities in light of NATO's naval defence strategies. In particular it shows how the alliance's naval commands played a key role in the sub-committee's creation due to the importance of oceanographic research in the tracking of enemy submarines. The essay also scrutinizes the reasons behind the committee's dissolution, with a special focus on the changing landscape of scientific collaboration at NATO. The committee's fall maps onto a more profound shift in the alliance's research agenda, including the re-organization of defence research and the rise of environmentalism.

KRYGSHELDE / WAR HEROES: LT.KDR. D.A. HALL, DIE GROOTHARTIGE SKIPPER

This article recalls the part lieutenant-commander D.A. "Stoker" Hall, one of the South African naval heroes of World War II, and his last command, the fregate Natal, has played in the Battle of the Atlantic. Natal was one of the two South African warships that sank enemy submarines - and Lt Cmdr Hall was the only South African Naval Commander to destroy a German U-boat.

잠수함 탐지 효과도 증대를 위한 대잠 헬기 임무 할당 방안 연구

본 연구에서는 함정에 탑재돼 운용되는 대잠헬기의 잠수함 탐지능력 증대시키기 위한 임무 할당 방안을 제안하였다. 이를 위해 대잠헬기가 대잠 탐색 임무 중에 수행하는 행동 및 행동들 간의 연간관계를 분석하여 모델링하였다. 또한 대잠 헬기가 수행하는 대잠 탐색 임무의 효과도를 정량적으로 측정하기 위한 지표들을 정의하였다. 설계된 모델링 결과를 이용해 효과도를 분석하기 위한 시나리오를 구성하였으며, 시나리오 및 대잠 탐색 임무 시 대잠 헬기와 상호작용하는 아군 수상함 및 적 잠수함과 관련된 주요 설정값을 적용하여 시뮬레이션을 수행하였다. 시뮬레이션 결과를 활용해 임무의 효과도에 영향을 줄 수 있는 대잠 헬기 디핑 소나의 운용 간격, 반복적인 탐색 임무 수행 시의 패턴에 따른 효과도를 분석하여, 효과적인 대잠 탐색 임무 할당 방안을 제안하였다. In this paper, a method to allocate a submarine search mission to an ASW(Anti-Submarine Warfare) helicopter is proposed. The aim of the proposed method is to increase the submarine detection capability. For this purpose, we modeled the behaviors that the ASW helicopter conduct during the search mission, and the relations between the behaviors are also modeled. To measure quantitatively the effectiveness of ASW search mission, the measure of effectiveness(MOP) is defined. Scenarios are designed to analyze the effectiveness utilizing the ASW mission model. We conducted simulations applying the designed scenarios and some parameters concerned with the friendly ship and the enemy submarine interacting each other in the ASW missions. We analyzed the result of simulation depending on the dipping interval and the pattern of dipping positions in the situation that the helicopter operates for a long time and should resupply several times on the friendly ship. From the analyzed data, we suggested the practical value of ratio between the detectable range of the sonar and the dipping interval to improve the effectiveness of ASW mission.

Analysing system of systems performance of a carrier strike group conducting anti-submarine warfare

The operation of US and Allied military forces freely and safely across the world's oceans remains a paramount goal of the US Navy, often to be carried out through the deployment of a carrier strike group (CSG). This paper examines the need for an improved anti-submarine warfare (ASW) system to protect a CSG, focusing on the design of an ASW system that is able to thwart an attack through effective, timely, and precise engagement based on the use of tactically significant detection, localisation, tracking and classification of threat submarines. This effort results in the development of system functions and objectives, appropriate metrics, an operational concept, several competing physical architectural alternatives, and conduct of trade-off analysis regarding system performance. Primarily, the focus is on the operational performance of the competing physical architectures, which is defined as the need to detect and defeat an enemy submarine during a typical CSG mission. Potential ASW and CSG components are described, as well as an assessment of several alternative ASW systems within the CSG system of systems, a brief operational concept, and the specifics of the performance modelling effort to include results.

The search for an alerted moving target

We investigate a two-sided, multi-stage search problem where a continuous search effort is made by one or more search units to detect a moving target in a continuous target space, under noisy detection conditions. A specific example of this problem is hunting for an enemy submarine by naval forces. So far, this problem has not been solved, because of the difficulty of predicting the target's behaviour. In finding promising routes for the search units, a heuristic has been developed. To obtain these routes, at every decision moment in time an optimal point to go to must be determined. This amounts to finding at every decision moment an optimum of a function that changes over time.

The History of Sonographers

I thank all who have made it possible for me to write this history by giving me an opportunity to be a part of it. I also thank Ann Polin, Carolyn Coffin, and Jean Lea Spitz for assistance. Abbreviations ACR, American College of Radiology; AIUM, American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine; AMA, American Medical Association; ARDMS, American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers; ASE, American Society of Echocardiography; ASUTS, American Society of Ultrasound Technical Specialists; CAHEA, Committee on Allied Health Education and Accreditation; JRCDMS, Joint Review Committee on Education in Diagnostic Medical Sonography; SDMS, Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers/Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography; SVT, Society of Vascular Technology; WFUMB, World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology ne of the most important questions to be answered when writing a history of the profession is where to begin. Pythagoras certainly played a role when he observed the relationship between sound pitch and frequency, but he did not make this observation related to medicine. John William Strutt, the third Baron Rayleigh, one of the few members of nobility to also be an outstanding scientist and 1904 Nobel Prize winner, published among many works the Theory of Sound. Christian Doppler lent his name to the Doppler effect, something we use every day when performing sonographic procedures. But many think that the true conception of ultrasound occurred in 1880 with the discovery of piezoelectricity by the French physicist Pierre Curie. Along with his brother Jacques, he performed experiments that showed that when certain crystals are subjected to an electrical field, they can be made to expand and contract, converting electrical into mechanical energy. These piezoelectric crystals can then act as both transmitters and receivers of sound. Since the early days of medicine, there has been a great desire to “see” inside the body. This is what drove Roentgen to develop x rays in 1895, Helmholtz the ophthalmoscope in 1851, Garcia the laryngoscope in 1854, and Nitze the cystoscope in 1876. Sound was first applied to the human body through auscultation in 1761 and the stethoscope in 1819, and interpreting these sounds required imagination, as did interpreting the early sonographic images. In the beginning, Doppler ultrasound was also strictly an analysis of audible sound.1,2 The use of ultrasound in medicine is similar to many technologic advances that owe their fame to war. The French government asked Paul Langevin, PhD, to develop a device capable of detecting submerged enemy submarines. The device he developed used the piezoelectric effect, which he had learned as a student with the Curies. He used quartz crystals and vacuum tube amplifiers, which were also used with early medical ultrasonic transducers. This was considered the first ultrasonic device. This research was not completed in time to be applied to the war effort. However, it did form the basis of sound navigation ranging (SONAR) detection, which was further developed during the Second World War.1,2

William D. Coolidge and ductile tungsten

This paper presents achievements and contributions of William D. Coolidge in the field of electrotechnology. Coolidge discovered a new method of producing ductile tungsten by a combination of reducing impurities and carefully controlled mechanical working. He also became known for his contribution to the development of improved X-ray tube and vacuum tube electronics. During the first world war, he helped developed portable X-ray apparatus for use by military and also worked on project for the sound detection of enemy submarines.

International Regulation Of Undersea Noise

In September 2002 seventeen whales were stranded off the coast of the CanaryIslands at a time when NATO was testing its active sonar system designed to detect silent enemy submarines.1The suggestion has been made that the use of sonar caused these whales to strand. In fact, sonar is just one of a variety of anthropogenic undersea sounds which, scientific research increasingly suggests, impacts negatively on marine biodiversity. Pollution of an acoustic nature is currently omitted from traditional works on the protection of the marine environment and is as yet the subject of very little jurisprudential discussion.2However the topic, which has received scientific attention for over 30 years, has recently been identified as acause for concern and consequently, for action, within the parameters of a number of global and regional environmental instruments.

Cruise missile deployed by sonar buoy

A sonar buoy adapted to be deployed by a cruise missile. This sonar buoy includes a flotation device for keeping a portion of the buoy afloat, a hydrophone, a transmitter for communicating contact and position information and releasable means for attaching the sonar buoy to the cruise missile. By means of this device, a means of monitoring littoral and other waters for enemy submarines and other threats is provided with a low degree of risk to friendly forces. A system for deploying this sonar buoy in a sonar buoy field is also disclosed.

Survivors: British merchant seamen in the Second World War

Winning the Battle of the Atlantic was critical to Britain's survival in World War II. If the struggle at sea had been lost, Britain would have been forced to surrender. The British Merchant Navy suffered enormous losses, both of ships and men, particularly in the early years. Sailing through U-boat wolf-packs across the Atlantic, or on the perilous routes to Malta and Murmansk, took a special kind of courage. Ships often sank within moments of being torpedoed. This book tells, in graphic detail, of the epic struggle against the Germans, Italians and Japanese, and, in particular, what actually happened when a ship was sunk by mine, aircraft, surface raider or U-boat. The resourcefulness and skill of the seamen enabled a surprising number to survive, including those making long voyages in lifeboats or on rafts. Throughout the War, efforts were made not only to increase the chances of survival by destroying enemy submarines, but also by improving life-saving equipment and rescue procedures. Survivors also describes how the crews of sunken ships were treated by the enemy. At first, most U-boat captains were extraordinarily considerate, but the risk of being attacked brought about a change of attitude. While atrocities remained rare, Hitler's instructions to the U-boats, to show no mercy, added to the many perils that British seamen already faced.